Ferrari or Tesla, Lucid or Lamborghini: Which EV is more electrifying?

There was a time when the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren and Porsche dominated all performance metrics. They were among the elite brands that could see off all comers in any measure of speed or acceleration.

However, the onset of electrification has levelled the playing field in some respects, as the fastest accelerating cars available today are the relatively unexotic Lucid Air Sapphire and Tesla Model S Plaid.

These battery blasters can destroy anything Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche builds in terms of 0-100kph sprints or quarter-mile drag races.

The Model S Plaid dispatches the 0-100kph split in 2.1 seconds and hits 322kph flat out, while the Lucid Air Sapphire is even faster, scorching to 100kph in 1.95 seconds and maxing out at 330kph.

They’re so rapid that even Bugatti’s all-conquering Chiron (priced from $3 million) can’t match the off-the-mark acceleration of these two electrified upstarts.

The dramatic shift in balance of power hasn’t been lost on the senior management of ultra-premium brands in Italy, Germany and the UK, but the message they convey is that they’re not focusing merely on straight-line performance. It’s more a case of maximising emotional appeal, delivering class-leading cornering and braking capabilities, as well as making the driver feel intimately connected with the car.

'We don’t want to make cars without character'

Lamborghini will roll out its first battery-electric vehicle, the Lanzador, in 2028, but the Raging Bull’s chief technical officer, Rouven Mohr, isn’t too concerned about outdoing Tesla and Lucid in a drag race.

“Every EV can accelerate fast,” Mohr was recently quoted as saying. “You don’t take your car out on a Sunday for a drive to go from 0-100kph in 1.9 seconds again and again. Maybe once or twice, but after that it’s boring.

“We don’t want to make cars without character, so we don’t actually want to build the perfect car, if a perfect car is one that does everything for you. This isn’t the PlayStation.

“Where we will focus is on the control of the car, how it reacts to inputs and more. I won’t talk about rivals by name, but I don’t think there’s an EV on the market today that does this well. All